Frazz: Live from Bryson Elementary

By Jef Mallett

One of the last places you'd expect to find fun is in an elementary-school janitor's cleaning closet. Creator Jef Mallett has given life to Renaissance man/janitor Edwin Frazier, better known as "Frazz," who took the job at Bryson Elementary School when he was a struggling songwriter. He then surprised everyone by sticking around after selling his first hit song; the school will never be the same.

Frazz: Live from Bryson Elementary features the diverse cast of charming characters Frazz readers have come to love. There's eight-year-old budding genius Caulfield. He's a constant thorn in the side of burned-out third-grade teacher Mrs. Olsen, who still remembers having Frazz in her class more than 20 years ago. Caulfield needs Frazz to challenge him as he remarks, "School would be OK if it didn't interfere so much with my education." Hilariously naive Principal Spaetzle wants to be like Frazz, and first-grade teacher (and first-rate babe!) Miss Plainwell is getting to know him better. And the kids at Bryson Elementary can't get enough of him! Live from Bryson Elementary is the first Frazz collection and will leave fans begging for more.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449445980

Jef Mallett

While in high school, Jef Mallett produced a daily comic for the "Pioneer" in Big Rapids, MI. He later worked as a cartoonist, and as an art director and an editorial cartoonist for a chain of eight midsize dailies. He has written and illustrated the children's book "Dangerous Dan", and has also served as an illustrator for other authors, including best-seller Mitch Albom. Jef is also a contributing editor for "Inside Triathalon" magazine. He lives in Lansing, MI. www.comics.com/comics/frazz/

Book preview

To my parents, for the foundation;

to my wife, for the framework;

and to my teachers and mentors, for all that crap in the attic.

Foreword

by Gene Weingarten

Before getting to the question I know you are all wondering about—Does Jef Mallett, as rumored, shave his legs? And for God’s sake, why?—I thought I would tell you a little bit about his comic strip.

I was a fan of Frazz long before I met its creator. Because I critique the comics pages for a living, I read lots of comics. But I can count on a cartoon character’s hand (four fingers, tops) how many times I have read only a single episode of a new strip and instantly known that it was going to be great. It happened with Bloom County and The Far Side. The third was a single-panel comic by John Callahan, the blindingly brilliant quadriplegic cartoonist from Seattle. And the fourth time, as you have no doubt guessed, was with Broom Hilda.

Kidding, kidding. The fourth was Frazz. Specifically, this one:

What’s so special about it? In four elegantly drawn panels, we have:

1.  A booger joke. (And a darned good one!)

2.  A vocabulary-list word for kids to bug their parents about.

3.  An original, hysterical, illuminating, eccentric observation about human behavior.

4.  An existential examination of the nature of aging and the myth of adulthood.

5.  A moral, delivered in good humor and without

Reviews for Frazz

[pferdina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This comic is funny for the right reasons. It is intellectual and sweet, kind of like "Calvin and Hobbes."

[bluesalamanders · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love Frazz; it's a hilarious and intelligent comic strip. I enjoy the book and I read the comic daily online, too.

[jimodo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first brilliant collection of the brilliant comic strip.